A man who witnessed the 'Dark Knight' shooting told TV station KCNC he thinks someone let James Holmes inside the emergency exit once the movie started, CNN reports.

Authorities believe that Holmes let himself in.

Here's what the witness, Corbin Dates, said:

"As I was sitting down to get my seat, I noticed that a person came up to the front row, the front right, sat down, and as credits were going, it looked like he got a phone call. He went out toward the emergency exit doorway, which I thought was unusual to take a phone call. And it seemed like he probably pried it open, or probably did not let it latch all the way. As soon as the movie started, somebody came in, all black, gas mask, armor, and threw a gas can into the audience, and it went off, and then there were gunshots that took place."

Dates reiterated his accountto NBC News, adding that the person seemed to be "signaling somebody" or "looking for somebody to come his way".

A federal law enforcement official previously told AP that authorities believe Holmes bought a ticket to the midnight showing and went into the theater as part of the crowd, then left and propped open the emergency door before putting on his ballistic gear and returning to begin shooting.

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It sounds as if it was the shooter. He pretended to take a phone call so he could prop the door open. His car with his gear was parked right next to the same exit so it would have only taken him a few minutes to get his weapons and armor.

On the other hand, in one of the early witness accounts on Reddit, one person who was in the front row very close to where the shooter came in was saying that the shooter never shot at anyone in the first few rows, and mostly went out of his way to avoid anyone in the front row (will find link later).

If, theoretically, he had an assistant there to let him in, it would make sense why he avoided shooting anyone up front where his friend would be.

Also, this graphic (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/aurora-colorado-theater-shooting/) by the washington post notes that a gas mask was found rather far from theater 9 and away from all the other stuff the shooter dropped (and far from where the shooter was apprehended). If the cops were there in less than 90 seconds, that's a lot of running for the shooter to do everything, run to one corner of the building to drop stuff, and then run back to sit by his car and wait.